Hey guys, I’ve been thinking a lot about religion for the last few months, I hadn’t thought too much into my ‘faith’ for the last few years until all this stuff about the EDL and UAF and posters made me very much interested in researching what all the current fuss is all about.
After realising my lack of faith and actually noticing that I am an atheist, I began looking at religion on a more regular basis and came to realise how flawed the whole idea of following the words of a book really is. Even with the amount of good will as you can draw from the scriptures of any religion, too many things have happened, are happening now and will no doubt happen in the future based on the sanctity of keeping religion alive – based on what? The book. Always the book. The book and the myth. You would think, based on how extreme and appalling acts based on religion are, more people would walk away from them, or at least speak up against the lunacy that surrounds faith in something that has no proof or eligible material to even back up a single piece of what it says.
Religion, no matter which one it is, has brought death and destruction into the world for hundreds of years and continues to do so on a daily basis. Let’s take this EDL vs. UAF madness for a start. Let’s forget who is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ on this level – maybe the EDL are racist, maybe they’re not. Maybe the UAF are communists or whatever else they’re accused of being, maybe they’re not – I’m not here to debate that. What I’m here to debate is the fact that it is through views upon religion that the recent riots came about such as violence against the police, as seen here…
The EDL are wrong for protesting against Islam as a whole religion, because it accuses everyone who follows it as an extremist. But it does make you wonder, from scenes like those shown above, how much easier the world would be if religion didn’t exist and how much more dangerous it becomes when it does. Let’s also not forget that craziness based on religion goes far beyond our shores, let’s look at America shall we?
Not every person under a religion acts this way, these are often minorities, but it is still a perfect example of religion turning to violence and disgusting acts of discrimination and hate based on the way people live or their opinions.
It is said that the difference between man and animal is intelligence. This isn’t to suggest animals are stupid! Of course, within their own habitats animals thrive better than man ever could, but then man could bring in a bulldozer, strip the land and build a mini mall and flourish there instead. Thus, the kind of intelligence I mean the ability to speak, think independently, complete complex mathematical equations, configure intricate machinery and contemplate the existence of the universe. Unfortunately, the intelligence to see the difference between myth and reality seems to be absent from a lot of people, which is a shame, as I’d hope we’d have that on top of all else, it’s called common sense.
Do you believe in Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny or Cupid? No, they are figureheads for fun events which keep children in line at times of need – be good or Santa won’t bring you any presents. Unfortunately, the event held by religion is death, which means people never let go of the fantasy because it is something you have to always live with and be in fear of; that lack of presents from God when the end comes is too much for people to bare if it exists, nobody wants to go to hell…or get a lump of coal in their stocking for that matter!
Also, a lot of people say God has a plan for everyone. Tell me this, what plan did God have for the Jews during the holocaust? What plan did a merciful God have for those Muslims who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan during the 2 wars following the deaths of the 2000 Americans who died in the name of Islam? What plan does God have for children who are murdered by their parents in the UK every year? Show me the chance, the mercy, the plan.
Let’s face it, faith in religion is an excuse for people to close subjects they can not understand or accept, such as the death of others, crimes, illness and/or the end of life for just a start. Man does not understand all and therefore puts his entirety of faith into that magical box with Christianity or Islam or Judaism stamped on it and then relies on a book that is hundreds of years old – full of unmatched facts and contradictions which simply does not make sense to today’s society, but because of that lack of knowledge and/or because they were simply brought up to believe what they were told.
After talking to a friend of mine about this subject, he linked me to the trailer of Religulous; the comedy documentary presented by American talk-show host Bill Maher which basically confirmed my entire way of thinking and stopped me feeling bad for not believing in something I’ve never seen. The film is not only funny and informative, but it also raises some key points in the lengths people will go to in belief of their religion, such as thinking nuclear war would be a good thing, etc. I’ll close this blog with the way in which Bill closes his film; consider the danger of the entire world being run based on religious beliefs – from my opinion it goes beyond ridiculous – it’s lunacy.
Due to the inability to embed the final scene from YouTube, please follow the link below to see the final (and amazing) scene of Religulous :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGFV6RXJmCA
I want to point out that I don’t want to discourage people from having their faith, because everyone has their own opinion and their right to believe what they want and this is mine. What I am saying is that religion is far too important in today’s society and as someone who has chosen not to follow anything I’m personally sick of it. Stick to your books, don’t bring it into politics or the way in which a country runs. I, as an atheist, don’t get special treatment, so neither should you.
Reno
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